


does the pain feel better when I’m around?

by suzukiblu



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta/Omega, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Feelings, First Kiss, Hugs, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Mating Cycles/In Heat, No Sex, Omega Zuko, Polyamory, beta sokka, mpreg mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25077316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzukiblu/pseuds/suzukiblu
Summary: “Cool,” he says. “You realize we’ve been looking for you for, like, twohours, right?”“Why?” Zuko asks, sounding confused, which is kind of sad.“Because the world is full of people who wanna kill you and you didn’t bother telling anyone where you were going?” Sokka says. “Obviously?”“Oh.” Zuko falls silent. Sokka glances moonwards in supplication. Yue save him from dumb, dumb firebenders.
Relationships: Past Mai/Zuko - Relationship, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), background Sokka/Suki
Comments: 40
Kudos: 1592
Collections: ATLA Polyamory Fics





	does the pain feel better when I’m around?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an anon on Tumblr who wanted ATLA A/B/O societal dynamics with Zukka; set immediately after The Boiling Rock. Not sure if I went heavy enough on the societal dynamics but I tried, therefore no one can blame me. Also it’s been ten thousand years since I rewatched S3 so please be merciful if I mess up something in the timeline, haha. 
> 
> Do I still even have a Sokka voice anymore?? I can only hope.

Sokka can smell somebody’s heat coming on somewhere in the temple, which normally he’d ignore—he has _some_ manners, okay—except nobody in the Western Air Temple should be in heat. Aang and Toph are still too young, Haru already told them he wasn’t due for another two weeks, and nobody else is an omega. 

So, like . . . what the hell? 

“Do you smell that?” he asks Suki, wrinkling his nose. Maybe he’s just crazy, he thinks. She tilts her head and sniffs. 

“Somebody’s in heat,” she says. 

“Yeah, except _who_?” Sokka says skeptically. 

“It’s not Haru?” she asks, and he shakes his head. 

“Not unless he’s two weeks early,” he says. Not to say nobody’s cycle’s ever gotten thrown off in the middle of a war, but that’d be pretty damn thrown off. 

“Maybe it’s Aang or Toph’s first one,” Suki says. 

“I guess?” Sokka frowns. The scent doesn’t seem quite right, but then again, it’s not like he’s ever smelled heat on either of them. Betas’ senses aren’t anywhere near as sharp as alphas and omegas’ either, so he can’t really narrow down anything past “heat” in the scent. 

“We should go find them,” Suki says. “They could probably use a distraction.” 

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Sokka says. They’re both betas, of course, so they’re not exactly good sources of sympathy for cycle stuff, but they _do_ have helpful calming pheromones and he’s pretty sure Aang at least would appreciate that. Maybe not Toph, but, well . . . Toph. “You take right, I’ll take left?” 

“Sounds good,” Suki agrees, then kisses his cheek and heads off. Sokka sighs contentedly, basking for a moment, then heads the opposite direction. He can’t quite pin down the source of the heatscent, but the temple’s not _that_ big; one of them’ll find it. 

He finds, in order: nothing, nothing, and nothing. Haru’s cooking dinner, Katara’s training, Teo and the Duke promise they’re not up to anything and probably are, Dad and Chit Sang are talking, and . . . 

And Toph and Aang are _also_ training, and definitely neither of them is in heat. 

Huh. 

Sokka meets up with Suki again in the main courtyard, and she’s frowning. 

“I can’t find Zuko,” she says. 

“What?” Sokka says inanely, and then realizes he’s an _enormous idiot_. “Oh! Crap, I didn’t even think about him!” 

“I just assumed he was a beta,” Suki says. 

“His scent’s kinda subtle, apparently,” Sokka says. He’s never really smelled Zuko’s pheromones before, actually. He only knows he’s an omega at all because Katara mentioned it once. Otherwise, yeah, he would’ve assumed the guy was a beta too. Or maybe an alpha, given the temper issue. “I totally forgot.” 

“Should we still go find him?” Suki asks. 

“I have no idea,” Sokka admits. “I mean, he’s gotta be used to having heats.” 

“Has he had one here yet?” she says. 

“. . . yeahhhh, we should go find him,” Sokka says. Heat's a vulnerable time, and Zuko isn't exactly the most well-integrated member of the group. If he needed something, he probably wouldn't even think to ask. "Stupid question, but did you check his room?" 

"Yes," Suki says with a nod. "His blankets weren't there." 

"Well, that’s a start,” Sokka says, frowning to himself. At least Zuko’s theoretically nesting, then, which he assumes is a good thing. Well, it’s gotta be better than _not_ nesting, if only for the comfort factor. “Maybe he left? He might not have wanted to get heated up around everybody.” 

“The airship’s still here,” Suki says. “And Appa.” 

“Then he’s gotta be in walking distance, right?” Sokka says. “We should ask around, see if anybody saw him leave.” 

“Yeah, let’s,” Suki says, and they do. Haru doesn’t remember, Katara hopes he fell off the temple, Teo and the Duke didn’t see anything and neither did Dad or Chit Sang, and Toph and Aang have no idea either. 

So . . . great start, there. They might as well’ve asked _Momo_. 

“Maybe he doesn’t _want_ found,” Suki says. 

“I mean . . . probably true, actually,” Sokka says with a grimace. “But now I’m kinda worried? What if something happens? What if another assassin shows up? Or _Azula_? Heck, what if he just gets lost?” 

“Let’s look again,” Suki says. “He can’t have gotten that far.” 

They look again. They do not find Zuko. Sokka throws his hands up in frustration. 

“The one time we actually want to see the guy!” he says. “Okay, well, that’s not really fair, I definitely wanted to see him at the Boiling Rock, but _still_! He could at least have told somebody where he was going!” 

“He probably didn’t think anybody would care,” Suki says. 

“Fair,” Sokka says. “Also, _stupid_. I’m going to hit him when we find him.” 

"If we find him," Suki says, looking concerned. 

"Oh, no, we are _going_ to find him," Sokka says firmly, folding his arms. "That stubborn moron chased us all the way to the North Pole, I can chase him around a stupid temple. And I am _gonna_.” 

“You’re cute when you worry,” Suki says, hooking a hand through the crook of his arm and smiling at him. 

“I just want to know the guy’s not dead in a ditch!” Sokka protests indignantly, reddening in embarrassment. “Is that too much to ask, now?” 

“Very cute,” Suki says. She gives him a little peck. Sokka can’t really complain. 

“I’m definitely going to hit him,” he grumbles anyway. 

“You are _not_ ,” Suki laughs. 

“I might!” 

“Just be nice to him, okay?” Suki says. “Heat’s rough when you’re alone.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Sokka sighs. “I’ll be nice. Once we actually _find him_.” 

“Let’s go check the woods,” she suggests. “He was camping up there before, right?” 

“You are the smartest girlfriend,” Sokka praises, giving her a hug, and she laughs. “I mean it. Smarter than me. Smarter than anybody. Definitely smarter than Zuko.” 

“I’m gonna remember you said that,” she says in amusement, patting his head. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be saying it a lot,” he promises her, and she laughs again. She really is so _great_. They head up above the temple and split up again, heading in opposite directions, and Sokka can smell faint traces of heatscent but really wishes he had an alpha or omega’s senses. It’d be a lot easier to find Zuko if he did. 

He guesses they could’ve recruited the others for this, come to think of it, but he doubts Katara would’ve been willing and they were mostly busy anyway, and as far as they know there isn’t _actually_ another assassin out there, so . . . yeah. He doesn’t know, really. They’re probably just being paranoid. Probably Zuko just wanted to be alone and is going to be mortified if they actually _do_ find him. 

Sokka is gonna keep being paranoid, though, because paranoia has served him pretty well in life so far. 

There’s a lot of woods to look through, even splitting the job with Suki. Sokka is kind of worried it’s going to get dark before they find Zuko, which sounds like a quick recipe for a sprained ankle. Ugh. 

Eventually, though, he catches a more immediate trace of heatscent in the air and follows after it, and after a little while he practically trips over a tent in the middle of a tiny clearing. 

It smells like heatscent, so . . . 

“Zuko?” he tries. He hears fabric shifting inside the tent. “You in there?” 

“I’m in here,” Zuko says quietly. Sokka resists the urge to open the front of the tent. Zuko might be after privacy for a good reason, for one thing. 

“Cool,” he says. “You realize we’ve been looking for you for, like, two _hours_ , right?” 

“Why?” Zuko asks, sounding confused, which is kind of sad. 

“Because the world is full of people who wanna kill you and you didn’t bother telling anyone where you were going?” Sokka says. “Obviously?” 

“Oh.” Zuko falls silent. Sokka glances moonwards in supplication. Yue save him from dumb, dumb firebenders. 

“So are you _okay_ , or . . .?” he trails off meaningfully. 

“I’m fine,” Zuko says, the lying liar. Sokka gives his tent a dubious look, putting his hands on his hips. 

“How are you such a bad liar?” he asks. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing,” Zuko lies, like a _lying liar_. Sokka rolls his eyes. 

“Sure, okay,” he says. “And your sister is a well-adjusted and normal person.” 

“I’m _fine_ ,” Zuko says. 

“Spending a heat alone in the woods in a tent does not scream of ‘fine’, man,” Sokka says dubiously. “At least you could’ve stayed in your room.” 

“I didn’t want to be—distracting,” Zuko mumbles, sounding embarrassed. “I’ll come back when it’s over.” 

“After you sleep alone in the woods in a tent,” Sokka says. “While in _heat_.” 

“Yes,” Zuko says, like he thought that was actually a real question or something. Again: Yue save him. 

“Zuko, you helped me save my dad _and_ my girlfriend,” Sokka says as patiently as he knows how to. “Also, I am a _beta_. This kind of thing is kind of my speciality. Come out of the stupid tent already.” 

“No.” 

_“Zuko.”_

Zuko doesn’t say anything. Sokka drags a hand down his face and seriously considers just barging in, except the tent is probably currently doing double-duty as Zuko’s nest and barging into an omega’s nest uninvited is kind of _not done_ , beta or not. 

“You're killing me, man,” Sokka says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Zuko. Come on. You can't _really_ want to spend your heat alone in the woods." 

"Spent worse ones," Zuko mutters bitterly. Sokka considers asking, but it's not really the point. 

"Awesome, that's horrible to hear," he says conversationally. "You're with us now, though. You absolutely do not have to be alone in the woods right now." 

Zuko doesn't say anything again. Sokka drops his head back on his neck. Seriously, this should not be so hard. 

"Just come out, okay?" he says. 

"I don't want to," Zuko says quietly. 

Sokka opens his mouth to protest, and the front of the tent shifts. He pauses, Zuko draws back the panel, and Sokka drops into a crouch and peers in. Zuko looks back at him, looking tired and unhappy. He's wrapped up in a pile of blankets and his eyes are red-rimmed. 

He's been crying, Sokka realizes. 

Crap, he thinks. 

"Crap," he says. He knows a lot of omegas get really emotional in heat, but he was not prepared for _crying_. 

"I'm fine," Zuko says even less convincingly than before. "Okay? You can go. Tell Aang I'll be back in a couple days." 

"Yeah, no," Sokka says. He's a beta, not an alpha, but leaving an omega to stew in their own misery _during heat_ is just not happening. Just no. He is not explaining that one to his ancestors. "Can I come in?" 

". . . why?" Zuko frowns in confusion. He still looks like he's been crying. Sokka cannot believe he has to ask. 

"Because you're _upset_ , genius," he says. "And I am made of nice soothing pheromones that I bet would make you feel a lot better." 

"Oh," Zuko says, gripping his blankets tightly. 

"Yeah," Sokka says. "'Oh'."

"Why would you do that?" Zuko says. Sokka gives him a disbelieving look. 

"The Boiling Rock happened," he says. "We're ride or die now. Congratulations, buddy, welcome to the friend group." 

"Your sister still hates me," Zuko says. 

"And she is officially outnumbered," Sokka says. "Also, not the beta here. The beta gets to decide who deserves their nice chill-time pheromones, thank you very much." 

"It wouldn't help anyway," Zuko says. He rubs at his eyes self-consciously and Sokka wonders if Zuko's ever actually gotten the beta pheromone treatment from anyone. His uncle's an alpha, and he has no idea how well the guy got along with Ty Lee, and apparently he hasn't really had any friends of his own for, oh, his entire life? 

"It definitely helps," he says. "So either come out or let me in." 

". . . you can come in," Zuko says. Thank the _spirits_ , geez. 

"Cool, cool," Sokka says, ducking into the tent without further preamble. Zuko shifts back to make room for him and Sokka makes sure the tent flap closes behind him. It'll be a lot easier to get his pheromones to fill up the space if he doesn't leave the door open. 

Speaking of, even his beta senses can smell the heatscent and misery in this tent, which is just _depressing_. 

"Wow, you smell awful," he says frankly. Zuko grimaces, ducking his head. 

"Sorry," he says. "I didn't—sorry." 

"For what, being _upset_?" Sokka says. 

"Yes." 

"You are so damaged," Sokka informs him. He's not sure how they do this kind of thing in the Fire Nation. Back home, Zuko'd already be in his lap. Hell, back home Zuko wouldn't have come out here to hide to _begin_ with. "Here, move over." 

Zuko moves over, looking confused. Sokka sits down next to him and tries to look . . . he doesn't know, exactly. Friendly? Inviting? He is admittedly not as experienced with helping people through their cycles as he could be. Pretty much he's just been a calming influence for Katara as she paces and sweats out her rut, and she's only had a few of those. He's not sure how different it should be with an omega. All he really knows is what he's been told. 

Zuko looks a lot more miserable than Katara's ever looked, but Katara's never decided to handle her cycle alone in the middle of the woods, so . . . 

"You _can_ get closer, you realize," Sokka says finally. Zuko's holding himself stiffly just outside of his personal space, which puts him basically against the wall of the tent. 

"I'm fine," Zuko says again, not relaxing at all. Sokka wonders if the Fire Nation maybe just doesn't do this kind of thing or something. 

"You know how this works, right?" he asks. 

"Yes," Zuko lies. 

Okay, yeah. Zuko has never gotten the beta pheromone treatment from anyone. At least not properly, anyway. 

"Sure," Sokka says, then leans over and rubs the scent glands in his wrist against Zuko's cheek. Zuko startles, then stares at him. He pulls the blankets tighter around himself again. 

"What are you doing?" he says, his voice a little cracked. 

"My beta-ly duties," Sokka says. "C'mere. Lay down, maybe." 

"I . . ." Zuko hesitates. Sokka represses a sigh. Zuko clearly has no idea how to do this; he's not gonna get annoyed with him about it. Besides, he only barely knows what he's doing himself. 

"It'll work better if you're closer," he says. 

"It's not a big deal," Zuko says, turning red and shaking his head. 

"Heat is a pretty big deal," Sokka says. "Seriously, what, do you spend them all this miserable?" 

"Yes. No," Zuko says. "I'm just—worried." 

"Worried?" Sokka squints at him. "About _what_?" 

"Mai," Zuko says, and . . . oh. Right. 

"Oh," Sokka realizes. Zuko grimaces, looking away. 

"We were going to spend this heat together," he says awkwardly, flush darkening. "And now she's . . ." 

"Yeah," Sokka says. Yeah, okay, no wonder Zuko's upset. Missing a would-be heat partner who's who knows where and in who knows what condition? Missing his former _alpha_? 

Yeahhhh, that's definitely a thing an omega in heat is gonna be upset by. 

"She saved us," Zuko says. “After I left her without even saying anything. And I don’t know what they’ll have done to her for it.” 

“Yeah,” Sokka says. He reaches out again and rubs his wrist against Zuko’s cheek again, and this time Zuko just barely turns into it. Okay, that’s a good start. Sokka can work with that. “We’ll find her, man. We’ll take down your dad and track her down.” 

“She could be hurt,” Zuko says. “Azula . . .” 

Sokka grimaces. Azula probably was not particularly thrilled about Mai letting them get away. About Mai explicitly _helping_ them get away. And if anyone knows how Azula would react to something like that, well, it’d definitely be Zuko. 

“We’ll find her,” he repeats. 

“I want to find her _now_ ,” Zuko says miserably, his eyes wet. “But we have to train Aang, and I don’t know where she’d even be. Even if they just kept her in the Boiling Rock, there’s no way we’re getting in _there_ again.” 

“Yeah, probably not,” Sokka says with a wince. Zuko helped him save Suki and Dad and his alpha got in trouble for it, and they don’t even know how _much_ trouble, and now Zuko’s in _heat_ , and . . . yeah, it’s a mess. He doesn’t know what he could say to make it better. He’s not really sure anything could. 

Mai’s an alpha, he can’t help but think. She was just doing what alphas do. 

So all he can really do right now is what a beta would. 

“I’m sorry,” Sokka says, cupping Zuko’s face in his hands. It’s a little intimate, but, well, so’s helping somebody out during heat. He tries to get his pheromones up the best he can, and Zuko slumps into the contact, his shoulders going loose. Sokka’s not sure if that means it’s working, but hopes so. 

Zuko just looks so _sad_. 

“You did the right thing,” Sokka tells him. “So did Mai.” 

“It doesn’t feel like the right thing,” Zuko admits quietly. It worked out for Sokka, personally, but he’s got enough basic human empathy to understand why it wouldn’t feel that way for Zuko. 

“You helped us,” he says firmly. “Mai’s tough. Like, scary tough. She’ll be okay.” 

“But what if she’s _not_?” Zuko says, his expression crumpling. Sokka still can’t think of anything to say that’ll actually make this better. 

“Then Azula will be sorry she ever touched her,” he says, because he has to say _something_. Revenge is maybe not the way to go with this, but . . . 

Zuko sniffs, then ducks his head out of his hands and turns away. Sokka thinks he might be crying again. Wouldn’t blame him, really. 

“Zuko,” he says, a little helpless. He’s not an alpha, he doesn’t need to make this better the same way an alpha would, but he needs to do _something_. 

“Sorry,” Zuko mutters. 

“You seriously do not have to be,” Sokka says. “Sorry is the _last_ thing you have to be. Like, there’s a very long list of things that you don’t have to be right now and ‘sorry’ is at the _very_ top.” 

“You have better things to do than worry about me,” Zuko says, rubbing at his face with the back of a hand. 

“Really not, no,” Sokka says. He reaches out again and carefully puts his hands on the other and tugs just a little. Zuko goes with it, body going loose and weak, and Sokka ends up with an armful of distressed firebender tucked in against his body. 

He’s done a lot of things he never thought he would since leaving the South Pole, but “hugging the Fire Lord’s son” has got to be top five at _least_. 

Sokka shifts a bit and Zuko buries his face in his neck, which is good because that means the guy’s nose is practically against his scent glands and, again, Sokka has the chill beta pheromones that will hopefully help this situation better than just his words can. He does his best to project confident calmness and puts a hand on the back of Zuko’s neck to keep him in close, wrapping his other arm around him as tight as he thinks Zuko will let him. 

Zuko lets out a very quiet whine, and Sokka tightens his grip on him just a little bit more. 

They sit like that for a while. Zuko stays very still, so Sokka does the same. He rubs his thumb across the back of the other’s neck, but that’s it, and slowly the remaining tension starts to drain out of Zuko’s body. Just a little bit at a time, but given how tense he was to start, Sokka’s not gonna complain about progress. 

For obvious reasons, he pretends not to notice when the tears start dripping onto his neck. 

“Sorry,” Zuko murmurs eventually. Sokka tightens his grip on him again. 

“Still don’t have to be,” he says. Zuko sniffles and then pulls back, his head hanging. He scrubs a hand across his eyes. It’s obvious he’s still crying, slow wet tears dripping off his face, but Sokka still doesn’t say anything about it. Heat’s just like that, sometimes. At least, so he’s always heard. 

Zuko’s miserable right now because he came to help them. If he’d just stayed in the Fire Nation, he’d be with his alpha and they’d both be safe and uninjured, or at least as safe as anyone ever gets in the Fire Nation. 

Sokka can’t stop thinking about that. 

“You’re doing the right thing. I know it sucks, but you are,” he says, pushing a hand into the other’s hair. Zuko sniffles again and scrubs harder at his face. 

“I deserve it to suck,” he mutters. 

“Nobody deserves a bad cycle, okay?” Sokka says. And yeah, he’s a beta, he only knows what he’s heard from other people, but he’s heard enough. A bad cycle can screw somebody up for days or even _weeks_. And not to be a jerk, but they really don’t have that kind of time for Zuko to be being screwed up in. “Just relax. Let yourself feel better. It’s okay.” 

“It’s _not_ ,” Zuko insists. Sokka wraps his arms around him again and reels him back in. For a second he thinks Zuko is going to resist, but then the other slumps heavily into him. 

“It really is,” Sokka says. 

“I got her _hurt_ ,” Zuko says plaintively, his shoulders just barely shaking. “I got my _alpha_ hurt.” 

“If anybody did, it was Azula,” Sokka says, petting the back of Zuko’s head and looking at the wall of the tent. “It’s not your fault.” 

“I just _left_ her again,” Zuko moans, shoulders shaking harder. Sokka keeps petting him; keeps trying to project soothing and calm pheromones the best he can. Zuko lets out a sob. 

Sokka keeps petting him. He doesn’t have a better idea. 

“It’s okay,” he says, though that might be kind of a lie. “You’re with us, alright? We’re gonna fix it.” 

“I don’t know how to fix it,” Zuko says tightly. 

“Easy, we beat up your dad and your sister and take over the Fire Nation,” Sokka says, making his voice breezy and trying to make it sound as simple as they both know it’s not. Look, Zuko’s in heat; it’s not the time for complicated. “Then we find Mai and you guys can make up.” 

“Thank you,” Zuko says, quiet again. Sokka ruffles his hair, then nuzzles him. He’s not really a nuzzler, normally, but Zuko clearly needs all the physical affection he can give him, both right now and in general. 

“Sure,” he says. “Don’t worry about it, okay? We’re on it.” 

“Okay,” Zuko says in that same quiet voice. Sokka concentrates really hard on putting off the right kind of pheromones. Again, he is not an expert at this, but he’s a beta: he can handle calming down one upset omega. Especially when there’s nobody else around to do it, and _especially_ when said omega just helped him stage a prison break. 

Zuko’s body softens against his, finally, and Sokka nuzzles him again. Zuko returns the gesture hesitantly, like he’s not sure if he’s allowed to or something, and Sokka redoubles his own nuzzling to encourage him, then presses a quick kiss against his temple. Zuko lifts his head and looks at him, still looking miserable, and Sokka kisses his forehead this time and then wraps his arms around him tighter. Zuko shudders. 

Seriously, has nobody been nice to this guy in his _life_? 

Aside from that time Katara tried to and then he helped Azula overthrow Ba Sing Se, anyway. 

Yeah, he gets why she's still mad. 

"This helping?" Sokka asks, rubbing Zuko's back. 

"Yes," Zuko says. 

"Good." Sokka nuzzles him again. Zuko slowly lifts a hand from the tangle of blankets and grips his arm, which is maybe him trying to work up to returning the hug Sokka is currently giving him but who knows, really, with Zuko. Sokka figures he'll just let the guy figure it out for himself. He's done way harder things in his life than give somebody a one-sided hug. 

After a little while, Zuko does in fact wrap an arm around him and seems to relax a little more. Sokka's relieved. Okay, they're making progress here. Zuko doesn't smell outright miserable anymore, at least, which is something. 

He'll take what he can get, okay? 

"You comfy?" he says, adjusting to tuck Zuko's head in under his chin. Zuko exhales shakily, then nods. He's only got one arm around Sokka, but he's holding on a lot tighter than Sokka's holding onto him. Sokka's fine with that, it's just pretty noticeable. He thinks for a moment, then holds on tighter in return, and Zuko finally, _finally_ seems to fully relax. 

Okay, cool. Sokka's not terrible at this. Good to know. 

Then Zuko tenses again, and Sokka hears rustling outside the tent. 

"Please be Suki," he mutters. 

"It's Suki," Suki says. 

"Thank you for not being a Fire Nation patrol, I really appreciate it," Sokka says. “Also, hey, babe.” 

"Is Zuko with you?" 

"Yeah." 

"Can I come in?" 

". . . yeah," Zuko says quietly, straightening up and pulling back from Sokka. 

"Thank you." Suki opens the tent flap and peeks inside, then smiles at Sokka. "Okay, good, you’ve got it. Do you guys need anything?" 

"No," Zuko lies. 

"Food," Sokka says, because he has not missed the fact that Zuko didn't pack himself heat snacks. What, he was gonna go two days without eating? How did _that_ seem like a good idea? 

"I can get food," Suki says. "Anything else?" Sokka looks around the tent. There’s water, at least, and a few blankets. Only a few, though. 

“Maybe more blankets,” he says. 

“I don’t need more,” Zuko protests. “There’s enough to nest.” 

“Zuko, this is not a nest, this is a pile,” Sokka says, poking meaningfully at the blankets wrapped around the other. “A _small_ pile.” 

“I’m sure we’ve got some extra blankets lying around,” Suki says. “At least I can grab Sokka’s.” 

“Perfect plan, mine are a lot thicker,” Sokka says approvingly, rubbing the corner of one of Zuko’s pointedly. Much better for nesting, in his opinion. Not that he’s ever nested, obviously, but thicker blankets are just more comfortable, okay? That’s _science_. “Also, they’re blue, so they look better too.” 

“Maybe I’ll pick up some green ones,” Suki teases. 

“I mean, I like green,” Sokka says, grinning at her, and she laughs. 

“It’s really fine,” Zuko says awkwardly. 

“No it’s not,” Sokka says, shooting him a look. 

“I’ll be back in a bit, okay?” Suki says, giving Zuko a reassuring smile before letting the tent close again. Zuko doesn’t look particularly reassured. 

“It really is fine,” he says. 

“Too late, Suki’s already on it,” Sokka replies firmly, picking up one of the stray blankets to toss over the other, now that they’re on the topic and all. “If you didn’t want help you shouldn’t have joined up.” 

“. . . I didn’t actually think any of you were going to help me,” Zuko says uncomfortably, glancing down at the blanket Sokka’s wrapping around him. 

“That’s because you’re dumb,” Sokka informs him. He adjusts the blanket. Zuko just looks at him with this really weird expression. 

“. . . thanks,” he says after a moment, looking embarrassed. 

“Team Avatar, baby,” Sokka says confidently, patting his shoulder. Zuko hesitates, then shifts closer to him again and puts a hand on his arm. Sokka does the natural thing, which is to wrap his other arm around him and let the other lean into him. Zuko rests his head on his shoulder with a quiet noise, and Sokka squeezes his arm around him. “There we go. Not as cozy as a good igloo but hey, life is compromise.” 

“Igloos are cozy?” Zuko says doubtfully. 

“I will forgive your skepticism because you grew up in an inferior climate,” Sokka says. “Very cozy. Ask anybody.” 

“If you say so,” Zuko says. 

“I’ll show you sometime,” Sokka says, and Zuko glances up at him. 

“If we survive this, you mean,” he says. 

“I mean, I figured that went without saying,” Sokka says, shrugging the shoulder Zuko isn’t leaning on. Their odds are probably not great, given the Comet and all, but he’s not gonna live the rest of his life thinking about dying. He’s got enough stress right now. “You’ll like it, the South Pole’s much better when you’re not trying to burn it down.” 

“Sorry,” Zuko says with a wince. Sokka pets his hair. It’s nice hair, actually. He never really thought about it before. 

“Relax,” he says. “You can apologize to Gran-Gran after we’re done not dying.” 

“You shouldn't be so nice to me,” Zuko says, still grimacing. "I don't deserve it." 

"Luckily for you, that's my decision," Sokka says. 

"Mm," Zuko says. "I just . . ." 

"Just?" 

"I've done the wrong thing so many times," Zuko murmurs. "I'm doing my best, but I don't know that I'm really going to be able to help." 

"That really has nothing to do with us being nice to you while you're heated up," Sokka says. "Like, any decent person would be." 

Zuko doesn't say anything. Sokka can't help but suspect that he's running through a mental list of people who've been "decent" to him and coming up short. 

"I mean it, Zuko," he says. "Just let us take care of you, okay?" 

". . . okay," Zuko echoes quietly, ducking his head. Sokka pets him again. Zuko lifts his head again and looks at him, and he is, actually, kind of gorgeous and smells _so_ good and . . . 

Zuko kisses him. Sokka makes a mildly surprised noise and Zuko jerks back, clapping a hand over his mouth and looking horrified, good eye flaring. 

"Sorry!" he says. "Sorry, sorry, _spirits_ I'm so bad at being good—" 

Sokka tugs his hand down and kisses him, and Zuko stiffens for just an instant, then goes soft and pliant and wraps his arms around his neck. Sokka deepens the kiss, and Zuko responds eagerly and practically lunges into him. Sokka lets him, and Zuko knocks him over and crawls on top of him. Sokka feels like he felt when Suki kissed him after the breakout, when they were finally alone together in the temple: warm and wanted and a little overwhelmed. 

He'd say something, probably, but kissing is definitely better. Zuko's not bad at it, either. Sokka pushes his hands up the other's back and Zuko breaks off the kiss to pant for breath and a curl of flame falls off his tongue. 

Sokka thinks he's flattered. 

Then again, heat. Zuko's self-control is probably about as thin as it can get without snapping. 

"Okay?" Sokka checks, stroking the back of Zuko's neck as the other shivers and looks down at him with fever-colored eyes. 

"Yes," Zuko rasps. 

"Awesome," Sokka says contentedly, then pulls him down into another kiss. Zuko moans into his mouth, another shudder going through him. Again: Sokka is flattered, heat or no. He threads his fingers through Zuko's hair and tugs it lightly as he bites the other's lip, and Zuko moans louder and weighs him down with his body, which is nice. He's heavier than Suki. 

Zuko drops his mouth to his neck and mouths at his scent glands, and Sokka knocks his head back against the blankets because oh _wow_ does that feel good. Obviously—it's his scent glands, they're sensitive as hell—but still. Wow. 

"Wow," Sokka says for lack of a better descriptor. Zuko kisses behind his ear and pushes a hand up his side. He's very warm, no surprise. Still warmer than Sokka expected, though. 

"Sorry," Zuko breathes, and kisses down his throat. Sokka snorts. 

"No, please, apologize for being a good kisser some more," he says sarcastically. 

"You think I'm good?" Zuko asks, his voice a little odd. He's . . . _really_ easy, huh. 

"I said so, didn't I?" Sokka says. He strokes the other's hair again; rubs the back of his neck. "And you can apply that 'good' wherever you feel the need to." 

"Mm." Zuko hides his face against his shoulder, still weighing him down. Sokka keeps petting him. 

"Just so you know, I don't wanna go all the way," he says. He hasn't done it before, a couple aborted attempts with Suki aside, and in the middle of somebody else's heat is _not_ the place to start. Especially because if he fucks up Zuko might get _knocked_ up and yeah, no, this is basically the worst possible time for that. 

"Okay," Zuko says, lifting his face and looking down at him with those fever-colored eyes again. He's all flushed and breathless and he smells like heat and _want_ , and Sokka is . . . pretty smitten, honestly. "Is, uh . . . is Suki going to be mad?" 

"What?" Sokka wrinkles his nose at him, momentarily confused before he realizes—"Oh! No, she's not. You're in heat. And she knows hunters do for hunters. Is the Fire Nation not like that?" 

"There's . . . consorts, sometimes, and concubines . . ." Zuko trails off, looking at his mouth. It's safe to say he's distracted. Sokka isn't going to hold it against him, though he's very curious about the "concubine" thing and definitely going to ask for details later. 

"C'mere," he coaxes, tugging Zuko into another kiss and earning a new moan from him for it. "Oh man, you make the _best_ noises." 

"M'not a hunter," Zuko mumbles between kisses, and Sokka snorts. 

"So I'll take you hunting after this," he says, and Zuko makes another soft noise against his mouth. 

"You don't have to," he says. 

"Too late, it's happening," Sokka says firmly. "You're my new hunting buddy and you're gonna _like_ it." 

"I'll like it," Zuko murmurs, voice soft and hot, and Sokka . . . well, he kisses him again, obviously. He's gonna keep doing that for as long as Zuko lets him—barring, like, emergency situations or Suki coming back with food, because _food_. In the meantime, though, Zuko both needs and deserves some attention, and Sokka is not exactly gonna suffer giving it to him. Like . . . definitely not gonna suffer. 

Who would be, in this situation? 

They kiss for a while. They're pressed together kind of intimately, but Sokka does not even slightly mind. Zuko's mood seems much better, too, and he doesn't smell miserable at all anymore. Sokka's pleased in that one very beta way that comes from soothing someone distressed. He's not always great at that, so it's a relief to manage it. 

Zuko breaks off the kiss to nuzzle his scent glands, and Sokka strokes the back of his neck. He tries to think of something useful to say, but he’s not really coming up with anything. 

“You’re definitely good,” he says, because he has to say _something_ and it’s the first thing that comes to mind. Zuko makes another one of those soft noises and looks down at him. He’s still all flushed and breathless, and Sokka rubs the back of his neck again and makes him shudder. Probably the right thing to say, then, he thinks. 

There’s a lot Zuko’s done and a lot he’s got to make up for, but as far as Sokka’s concerned . . . well, he thinks the guy’s gotten a pretty good start on that. 

And anyway, even if he hadn’t, they weren’t going to leave him in the lurch like this. 

“Thank you,” Zuko says quietly, fever-eyed and gorgeous, and Sokka tugs him down to kiss again. 

It seems like the thing to do.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr!](http://suzukiblu.tumblr.com/)


End file.
